Why does everything Gluten Free, organic, eco friendly and made in the USA cost so much?! It’s just annoying already. I mean really! I’m a huge coupon clipper so it’s not like retail gets the best of me, but i also have a full time job being a mom & wife + my full time job at work. It’s all just so exhausting. If i am determined to get good & real food in my boys tummies, it’s just what i have to do though. Okay, done with the food/organics rant – on to the Regional Center & Medi-Cal.

I recently applied for institutional deeming Medi-Cal for my boys. I quickly learned that there is a reason NO ONE in their right minds actually goes to these offices to apply for these types of services – NO ONE at these offices cares about you or getting you any sort of help. On the contrary, they make every single little thing harder than normal and treat you and everyone else in the place like crap. I hope none of those people ever fall into a space where they actually need services themselves and might i add that i hope the people i spoke to did not have children, let along children with special needs of their own.

I work for a service organization and we DO NOT treat people this way. This is not what our Social Services sector should look, act & feel like. It’s pitiful.

I left my 2 miles of requested paperwork there and just this week received another huge stack of paperwork that asked me to basically sign my life away. I talked it over with my husband, and we are not going through with this after all. We aren’t signing anything. My children belong to me, my house belongs to me, and for the cost of a few co-pays with Kaiser, i will keep my car, bike, cat, check stubs and everything else they were asking about.

If anyone else has experience with Deeming, please shed some light for me! I was told that they do not look into our assets, income, etc. because this pertains to our children with ASD, not us. I’m not sure if the office i went to knows what the hell they are doing, or if things have just changed over the years, but they were asking for more than i cared to go into or “sign away.”

Right after this fiasco, i received 2 letters from Central Valley Regional Center. They are looking to assess an Annual Program Fee because of an enacted Trailer Bill (AB104, Statues of 2011). The letter said the Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 4785, states that effective July 1, 2011, Central Valley Regional Center must assess and Annual Program Fee to parents whose adjusted gross family income is at or above 400% of the Federal Poverty Level based upon family size and who have a child to whom all of the following apply:

The child has a developmental disability or is eligible for Early Start Services;

The child is less than 18 years old;

The child lives with his or her parent;

The child or family received services beyond eligibility determination, needs assessment, and service coordination and

The child does not receive services through the Medi-Cal program.

The annual family program fee will not be assessed if a child received only respite, daycare, or camping services through the RC and a cost for participation is already assessed under the Family Cost Participation Program. The fees are an initial $200. If the family can show that total adjusted gross family income is less than 800% of the current year Federal Poverty Level, then the RC will lower the fee to $150. If the parents adjusted gross income is less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level, the annual fee is reduced to $0.

This is just another brick in the wall because as many of you know we do not qualify for SSI for the boys because of our incomes – fine. SSI has denied us 3 times now. I just keep trying. My husband and I cannot quit our jobs so that we can receive all these services, but from time to time we do NEED HELP. We are considered too rich (by dollars) to receive services in most cases, yet we are too poor to actually cover the majority of these costs. And we may be dealing with more fees? (sigh) If we were to quit our jobs, we would lose our home and not make ends meet – bottom line. So, we will keep working, fighting, trying, writing, calling, whatever we have to do. This entire process is just daunting and never ending.

Looks like i’m going to have to put my gloves on again…

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